Made in honor of Jordan's parents, longtime UCLA faculty members Renée and David Kaplan, the gift, the largest ever received by the humanities division at UCLA and the second largest made to UCLA College during the ongoing Centennial Campaign for UCLA, comes two years after Renée, David, Jordan, and Christine Kaplan donated funds to establish the Presidential Professor of Philosophy endowed chair. The largest portion of the gift, $20 million, will support the philosophy department, with the other $5 million providing seed funding for a $15 million endowment that will provide financial support for graduate students in the humanities.

Jordan Kaplan is the CEO and president of Douglas Emmett, Inc., a real estate investment trust. David Kaplan is a renowned scholar of philosophical logic and the philosophy of language, and Renée Kaplan was a clinical professor of psychology and the director of training at UCLA Student Psychological Services. Both Renée and David earned doctorates at UCLA.

"This extraordinary gift signals a new era for the humanities at UCLA and, in particular, for philosophy," said UCLA chancellor Gene Block. "It's more important than ever to instill in our students the philosophical perspective that helps make sense of today's complex societal challenges."